China ports throughput falls in April

Chinese major ports handled 955.9 million tonnes of cargo in April, down 1.5% year on year (y/y), data released by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) showed on 12 May.

According to the MOT, the cargo volume of coastal ports amounted to 654.6 million tonnes, down 2.8% y/y, while river ports stood at 301.3 million tonnes, up 1.8% y/y.

Between January and April, the cargo throughput of major ports in China totalled 3.67 billion tonnes, rising 1.4% y/y, but growth speed was slower than the corresponding period in 2014. Of the total, 1.1 billion tonnes of cargo were handled by river ports, up 4.2% y/y.

Foreign trade cargo volume decreased 4.3% y/y in April to 292.8 million tonnes, and imports of major bulk cargos in the Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Bay area visibly dropped as well, said the MOT.

The total cargo throughput for foreign trade from January to April reached 116.8 million tonnes, down 1.5% y/y.

Container throughput at major ports amounted to 17.6 million teu in April, up 3.6% y/y, among which 15.8 million teu were handled by coastal ports, up 3.4% y/y while the rest by river ports, growing 5.2% y/y.

China’s exports fell 6.2% y/y in April, and its imports dropped 16.1% y/y, according to data released by customs.

The lower-than-expected exports will have a negative impact on Chinese port industry, projected by Guotai Junan Securities, which is still optimistic about the exports for the whole year of 2015.